Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

My cousin has in-laws in the DC area. She sent me a text message out of the blue on Monday asking if I was free this week for dinner. Turns out I was! I left work pretty late, but picked her and her husband up and went for a quick bite/drink in Old Town Alexandria, not far from where they were staying.

I love my cousin. She’s really cool. She had a lot of family gossip to catch me up on. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. But at the very least, it was really great to see her and her husband. They’re two of my favorite people.

What’s funny though is that her husband spilled over a glass of red wine onto a little purse of mine. I got the purse as a casual present from a relative. I’m not particularly attached to it. It’s Coach bag and it’s rather small. It hardly holds the things I need to make it through the day. However, my cousin’s husband profusely apologized and said he’d buy me a new one if it was ruined. I told him not to worry about it at all. The bag was a gift from a family member who buys too much stuff.

I was intrigued that:
1. He would offer on the spot to buy me a new one.
2. I was really casual about it since I didn’t pay for it.

The poor guy has no idea these things are close to $150. There’s no way I’d make him replace it. I’m the dork who left it on the table to be spilled on. Plus, I don’t love it so it wouldn’t kill me to lose it. While I love the giver of the purse, she gave it to me rather casually because it was an extra she had in the closet which she never used. While it suits me and is very cute, in a way, I do love it, but I’m really not that attached to it and I don’t quite know why. Perhaps because it is functionally a huge disappointment that I feel this way. Who cares that it’s a real Coach bag? It still doesn’t carry everything that I need and I end up cramming stuff into it all the time. I guess that’s just me though. I shouldn’t look that gift horse in the mouth, right?

My cousin and her husband were very nice to pick up the check for my chili dinner and soda and I was extremely glad to spend time with them. I love driving to his mom’s house near Mount Vernon. They always insist it’s so far and out of the way, but they don’t know that one of life’s pure pleasures is the dark wooded drive there. It’s lush, mature canopy that epitomizes why I love the east coast over California (where they live now).

The moon was full that night and looked like a huge pearl in the sky with a bright reflection on the Potomac. That to me was priceless. (As well has his mom’s clean bill of health post-chemo. I never would have guessed she was sick this past year. She looked fabulous.) (FWIW, my Chinese co-worker reminds me that it’s the Autumn Moon Festival now and I should have moon cake as a treat. But I want green Korean rice cakes with yellow acorn filling. Yum!)

Every once in a while I have some money to buy art. Not all art is expensive either.

I don’t care much for knickknacks around the house because my apartment is so small. I have a few stuffed animals that I care about for sentimental reasons and some special figurines, but that’s about it. Most are just toys that could be thrown away if needed.

One of my favorite artists regularly shows her work at Artomatic. Her name is Geneieve Lynn of Jade River Studios. I bought a Chinese brush painting of hers many years ago at Artscape in Baltimore. It was for my mom for Christmas. While I was looking at her latest exhibit, I saw some cute small paintings of Chinese Zodiac animals. There was one of a rabbit that I kind of liked. It was reasonably priced in the frame for $30. It would be a cute picture for Father’s Day since my dad was born in the Year of the Hare/Rabbit.

For my father, there’s very little he needs right now since my mom takes care of everything. But I wanted to get him a small treat. In the past, there have been cashmere sweaters, golf accessories, hats, fancy raingear, and ridiculousness. More than anything, a token gift is best now since his stroke. I think a cute bunny picture for an empty spot on the wall is perfect.

Art doesn’t have to be expensive and I’m glad I could pick up an original piece of work so inexpensively. (There are small fees the artist pays at Artomatic, but nothing like a gallery commission.) Sometimes, you’re better off going directly to the artist rather than through a gallery.

ps- If I hadn’t bought the painting, I would have had a No Spend Day yesterday. Hooray for Almost No Spend Days!

We are taking the off-road vehicle because we’re going to a beach that allows them. WHEE!

It’s not fuel-efficient to take this car, but in the name of fun, we spend extra.

My friends, Mr. and Mrs. Peanut, will be tying the knot on the beach. Very exciting stuff. Mr. Peanut and I met 5 years ago at work. He’s one of my totally awesome co-workers and I wish him all the best. When I first met him, he was kind of a freewheeling kid playing the field. Mrs. Peanut is really nice and I can tell they are going to be mega happy. My old boss will be there too! (He’s still Mr. Peanut’s boss. I left a few months ago.)

I have a super special wedding present for Mr. Peanut. It’s a gag gift, but it’s going to be great and it cost me less than 5 bucks! I’ll tell you what it is when I get back since there might not be internet access this weekend. (Rumor says yes, Gut Feeling says no.)

Have a great Memorial Day holiday!

The holiday falls within days of my parents’ wedding anniversary. Because I hate getting my mom a Mother’s Day present, so usually I send some flowers or take my folks out to a fancy dinner.

However this year, I found the perfect gift with which my mother should have no complaints. At Eastern Market there are several vendors selling pearl necklaces at really low prices. If they aren’t pearls, they are definitely carved shells with the beautiful natural lustre of nacre.

I found something really cute in a pastelly pink sort of color. It’s about 15″ and kind of elaborate, but still simple. It was amazingly only $25. They had huge 22″ strands that would have gone for thousands of dollars when I was a kid for like $30-50. Really pretty stuff too. There were colored pearls in black, rose pink, lavender, and peachy colors as well as traditional white-cream colors.

I hope my mom likes it. Since the stroke, dad doesn’t really eat much so I hate taking them out to a steakhouse like I used to do. Honestly a pretty necklace is a lot cheaper too.

ps- I am starting a new project today. I’m excited, but I’ll be driving all summer long at $4/gallon of gas. *sigh*

What’s the most expensive present you ever received from or bought for someone not your parents? What about from/for your significant other?

Sometimes I’m surprised when people say they bought their boyfriend or girlfriend a video game console or cellphone. I honestly cannot imagine spending $300-400 on a single gift for anyone. Well, ok, I can. My parents, but I think of that as a totally different league of gifting since they spent truckloads of money raising me and paying for my education. I cannot repay them enough for their 30+ years of slaving in their businesses, but that’s another blog post.

One time, I spent about $300 on a wedding present, but that’s because I was following the rule of spending as much on registry presents as was being spent for each person. The bride had the courtesy to allow me to bring a date, so I estimated and doubled what she spent for each guest. I’ve never spent that much again, short of flying myself to a destination wedding, but a slightly different scenario there.

I got a set of books once from a crazy ex-boyfriend of mine. The boxed set was about $200, but I know he spent about $150 and I was decidedly uncomfortable about the gift for two reasons, 1. It was one of the most expensive things I’d ever received in my life. 2. He was engaged to someone else. (That’s always weird. Like how does a guy justify spending $150 on a set of very esoteric geek books for an ex-girlfriend to his financee? Beyond me what the hell he was thinking.)

I think I spent $200 on yarn once for a gift I was making for one of my best friends. It was a beautiful Italian merino wool scarf in navy and crimson to keep him warm while he was doing his PhD in Boston. He tells me he still wears it and it’s been at least 10 years since I gave it to him. I think he’s lost it by now, but I don’t really want to know if he did.

I am unlimited in my gift giving, meaning I like to buy lots of gifts. But I have to restrain myself. Each single gift might be only be $50 or less. I truly cannot remember the last time I bought something for someone that was more than $100 unless it was a wedding or baby shower present.

So tell me, do you buy expensive gifts for other people, or do you also have a de facto limit as well?

p.s. This post was inspired by a friend’s smartphone. Her boyfriend gave it to her for Christmas. I was a bit shocked. If my significant other is spending that kind of money on me, we’d have to have a talk about what I was receiving. As it is, I know my boyfriend bought my last present on eBay for $20, but that Les Halles dinner was expensive. Somehow food doesn’t count in my mind.

I just heard that an old family friend and his wife just had a boy. To acknowledge the life event, I sent something from their registry. It was the least I could do. This friend is a doctor and was a great help to me during my dad’s hospital stay in 2006. Even though we’re not really close, I still think of him as a brother in many ways because he’s always there to help when it comes to my parents. Though my sibling and I live far away from him, we always try to acknowledge important life events. I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not know him so I’m really thrilled he’s getting a family started.

I took the time since I was on the Babies R Us website to buy for a baby shower in a few weeks. I figured I should kill two birds with one stone. If you are making a present for someone’s shower, do you buy an additional gift? I personally dislike doing that, but this friend of mine is not someone with whom I trade lots of presents during the year. We give little token gifts, like yarn from our stash or handmade cards. Nothing huge.

I spent about $100 total on all gifts including shipping and taxes. Don’t even ask me what I spent on the gift I’m making. DIY is not cheap but there’s love in every stitch and frankly, I’m so freakin’ smug at the perfectness of this gift (in concept, execution, not so much) that I’m just happy she’s going to love it. (I cannot divulge till after it’s done.)

Now, onto the business of a bachelorette party. Fun as it sounds, it’s out of town and I was balking at going because I don’t know anyone anymore in Boston who has room to host me. Then I read the invitation much more closely. The organizers are getting a crash pad at a hotel. This changes everything. Now I’m only looking at a crazy bar tab, part of a hotel bill, shuttle flight and incidentals.

Very few friends of mine have gotten married. They have, but usually I was living too far away from them to partake in things like a bachelorette party. I think this will be the first big bachelorette party I’ve ever done in my life. The bride is someone I greatly admire and I’ve always heard tons of stuff about her old college friends, but I’ve never met them before. It feels right to do this trip. I just hope that no one else gets married in 2008 or else I am screwed. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to visit my nephews in CA this year with all the wedding stuff that’s planned.

I must remember that life is all about choices. Hard choices, but choices with which I can live.

January sucks for retail. Why? Because you want to shop and spend some money, but there is nary a sales person to be found.

Clueless friend and I are shopping and he’s wondering why there isn’t anyone around to ask about opening a display case for us. I then laugh at him and explain that this is the reality of the post-holiday retail season. Everyone has slashed their payroll and cut everyone’s hours.

Why do I know this? Because I learned the hard way. I worked retail in college and January was always the hardest month. I could never get enough retail hours on the clock to make what I needed. I had to keep my library and office work-study jobs to buy my Spring semester books.

*sigh*

Just when I’m ready to spend some money, they won’t let me.

FWIW, I was looking at some allen wrench sets (or ‘hex keys’ but daddy always called them allen wrenches, is that a regional term?) and will now be buying them online through Harbor Freight, piggy backing it off of my friend’s order. Why? Because I had to borrow a set from my lovely neighbors, and I torqued the heck out of the cheap set they loaned me and couldn’t get it back into the case properly, which they couldn’t either when they handed them to me, so it’s ok. But I thought this would be a nice thank you for all the awesome things my friends do for me all year-round.

Mom and Dad $225 - luggage
Sibling and Spouse - $0 nothing but my lovely presence for the holidays (read more below)
Nephews - $40 on clothing
Co-workers - $70 - special presents for three people and yummy chocolates for the office
Boyfriend - $90 theater tickets
Friends - $40 books for some girlfriends

That was it. No cards sent. Just a lot of holiday phone calls.

I bought a $500 Visa gift card for my cousin and his wife as a wedding present, but was fully reimbursed for it because my sibling was supposed to send an international money order last year while he was getting married, for which I gave $200. Fine. Sending it insured cost me an extra $12.

I did end up spending about $500 on my flight to CA, $30 to fill the car I borrowed instead of getting a rental, $74 on lunch for my family, $60 on seaside brunch for me and my parents, $10 on tape and some wrapping paper, $40 for dinner for me and the babysitter who took me to the airport instead of a shuttle service, and $160 for one night at the hotel after my folks checked out. I didn’t want my sibling to pay for it for me. It felt a little moochy to do that. So overall, my trip to CA cost me $874.

Eh. This wasn’t too bad. It could have been worse.

I suspect this year my Month-Over-Month net worth growth will wind up being negative in December. There’s just too much going on for me right now with my medical expenses and overspending. I have had one too many splurges over the holidays.

I had a nice comment the other day asking me to update the NetWorth IQ graph, which I have done. I haven’t been home a lot, and that means I have been spending money out the wazoo. Because I waited so long to do it, November represents a very accurate picture of my finances. Usually I do not wait for my HELOC statement to come in before doing the update. I often just estimate it because it arrives so late.

I ended 2006 with a net worth of $34K, even. This year, I will end up around $48-49K, $50K if the market does better. Like most people, I took a serious hit this November as the S&P stagnated. However, I did use this as an opportunity to buy up a little Citigroup stock as a long-term hold generating dividends. It does not appear that they will cut their dividends any time soon, so I am relying on the depressed price to bring me good yields over the next decade. Yes, I hope to have it that long.

Examples of my holiday splurges:
1. Theater tickets
2. Super nice Christmas presents for my co-workers. Over $20 each.
3. Shopping with my friends and realizing, “Hey, I need that too.”
4. Baby shower gifts

(more…)

Please stay in your lanes. I watched an SUV swerve into my lane several times this evening. I suspect, the driver had been to happy hour, or else was totally clueless about the size of his vehicle. If you think I’m slamming SUV’s, guess again. That silver Mitsubishi Eclipse got me on the 495-Port of Wilmington split today. I was passing on the right (I know, that’s bad, but the lane was totally free and clear!!!) between the middle lane and the Jersey wall. For some reason, Mr. Sport Car Idiot swerves into my lane without turning his head to check to see if I am there. I nearly crash into the wall! Thanks bub.

At any rate dear drivers, today was an Almost No Spend Day. I only bought gas this morning and spent money on tolls. Gas at the local independent retailer in VA was $2.98 this week. I got gas on Tuesday morning. I stopped in again today to fill up and it was $3.01. The Citgo was $3.08. The DE rest stop I like was $2.99 STILL!!! However, I’ll fill up on the way back. Mom let me fill up tonight for free, otherwise it costs $3.13 at her station, per the nightly news, that’s about the norm here in PA.

The luggage I bought for Mom went over well. It was a $220 Samsonite 26" spinner bag in light blue. The link is for the “Aspire Lite”, but it was marked “Silhouette 8″ at the store. (It appears I could gave gotten a better deal on Amazon, however, I didn’t know what I wanted till I was at the store getting it. Bummer, but there is time-value to factor in. She needed the bag before our trip to CA for Christmas.)

Mom was very happy with the lighter color. She hates confusing black bags on the luggage belt at the airport, so blue suits her just fine. I think the bag is from a discontinued line from the outlet store. Along with the bag, there was a special deal on a huge sturdy tote bag for one penny so I got one for myself. However, I gave mom the penny tote too since she seemed to like it. I told her the roof was a no-go next year and that it’s very possible I won’t be getting any bonus since I haven’t heard from my director if the numbers look good. I will assume the near worst for now. (Worst being a RIF, but no word on that either and I’d be the last to go. Someone has to shut the servers down.)

Please expect light posting since I’m actually going to have some no spend days or almost no spend days this weekend.

CELEBRATE BUY NOTHING DAY THIS FRIDAY!

And with all that, please have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday weekend!